Antoine Dénériaz

About Antoine Dénériaz

Antoine became Olympic Champion in downhill on February 12, 2006, at the Winter Olympics in Turin. He is the 5th Frenchman to have won this title after Oreiller (1948), Vuarnet (1960), Killy (1968), and Crétier (1998). Michael Walchhofer, winner of the 2006 World Cup in downhill, was relegated that day by 72 hundredths, which represents the largest gap between 1st and 2nd place in Olympic downhill since the Innsbruck Games in 1964!

Born in 1976, in Haute-Savoie, Antoine could barely walk when he made his first ski slides in Morillon, his hometown. Very quickly, he joined his father, a ski instructor and coach at the ski club. Becoming a downhill skier and being part of the French team became his dream…

He participated in the Junior World Championships in 1994 and 1995 before making his debut at the World Cup at the age of 20 in Val d’Isère in 1996. After two seasons of learning at the highest level, he achieved his first major result by finishing 4th in the downhill of the Critérium de la 1ère Neige in Val d’Isère, just 3 hundredths from the podium!

After a few up-and-down winters, he earned his first selection for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 (12th in downhill). He exploded the following year by winning his first World Cup downhill in Val Gardena (Italy). He won that downhill again the following winter. From December 2002 to December 2004, Antoine won 3 World Cups, stood on 6 podiums, and was among the best downhill skiers in the world. Unfortunately, on January 7, 2005, he fell during the downhill in Chamonix and underwent surgery 5 days later for a torn ligament in his left knee. This marked the beginning of a race against time to come back even stronger for what would be the race of his life, exactly 13 months after his operation…

Since retiring from his career in December 2007, Antoine’s transition has been diverse. He created and manages his own ski accessories brand, “Dénériaz.” Very active within the Annecy 2018 bid for hosting the Winter Olympics in 2018, he initially served as “Ambassador President.” As a sponsor of an association facilitating access to skiing for the disabled and a television consultant, he also resumed his studies and recently obtained a master’s degree in international sports marketing from ESSEC.